Chương 160: Coming home

Fighting beside a Tier 8 Formation Master was a wonder. Outnumbered more than ten to one, and with Blue Rose holding the ward around us and the Great Sages at bay, it fell on me to kill off the assailants. I didn't mind, since it was indeed good Sword practice, especially since I had just hit the 7th level of Sage Realm. But now, with Rose drawing aggro and making the demonic Sages act like love zombies, my task became too easy. Slice, slice, slice!

In a minute, half of the enemies transformed from mindless zombies into headless corpses, and only the intervention of their Great Sages, yanking the Sages out, outside the range made the situation stabilize somewhat. I glanced around, trying to find a weak link to attack, but these demonic cultivators did have thousands of years of combat experience, perhaps even more brutal than most regular cultivators would even face.

"Retreat?" I heard one Great Sage ask beneath his mask.

"No need. Backup is coming." another one answered in a confident voice, then got struck by three lightning bolts in quick succession. That was the weak link, right there! I channeled my qi into a movement technique, and sliced off the stunned Great Sage.

"You are a good swordsman, husband..." Luoli whispered with an admiring voice, as she appeared beside me and cut down another demonic Sage, with her new Tier 7 sword. Tian's flower measured and analyzed her sword skill, finding it good enough, if not great. Then again, the Sword idiot did have higher standards, basically only holding the two Sword Emperors in any regard. Blue Rose giggled and stole a kiss from me, unbothered by the pressure of the lower ranks besieging us.

"Keep fighting, Pef Tian." she whispered and patted my ass for some reason. Of course I will keep fighting. We might still get overwhelmed and killed otherwise. Reducing the enemy numbers to half was good, but not enough. Luoli wiggled her left-hand's fingers, causing a chain lightning to erupt from her arrays. I darted low, following the lightning with my sword intent, then placing swift cuts on the stunned targets. Six more Sages down, then jump back and avoid a polearm and a glowing sword striking the ground.

Damn it. The Great Sages were able to resist Rose's beauty, likely because they bathed in too much woman blood for their ascensions. A burst of qi from Luoli, as she expended her qi in a huge spell, striking another Great Sage and continuing the lightning strike with a chain lightning. I ran towards the end of the chain, slicing down four more Sages while avoiding the Great Sage.

One may think I lost an opportunity here, but the Blood Hands grabbing the demonic Great Sage and swiping around his position justified my caution. It's not paranoia if they are indeed trying to kill you. Still, the enemy numbers got reduced again, and I darted beside Rose to draw my breath and analyze the battlefield.

"They called for backup." I said while gulping air and circulating my qi rapidly.

"And so have we. Don't risk your little life anymore." Blue Rose answered with a beatific smile, which almost dazed me, except I was holding a sword. My Sword Intent cleared my mind and showed me the Dao beneath. Rose had little combat experience, basically using her cultivation as a blunt hammer to scare off the enemy. It wasn't as bad as freezing up or breaking into tears, but I was still disappointed. Her bravado was fake.

"Grab a stronger one." I asked with a sad voice, and primed my sword as Luoli appeared behind me, eating a few pills to increase her recovery. The air around us turned into blue flames, as Rose's Cold Bluefire Sacred Body came into action. A Great Sage holding station above us fell like a bird, my Sword darting in and out in a flash to take his life and slice of his storage ring on the backstroke. I glanced inside the ring for a second, and as expected, the demonic script lit up in red blood runes.

I was wondering what demonic sect would be so brazen to act in the open like this. The Eight Blood Skulls, hailing their name from the eight Great Sages acting as their leaders. Well, six of them now. Considering that the Million Flowers only had seven Great Sages, this wasn't a small sect at all. Then again, without the Blood Wars and the horrific human sacrifices, the Blood Skulls didn't have enough energy to gain their first Dao King yet. No, Pef. It's not blood and skulls for a great demon from Beyond.

At least I don't think so. Demonic cultivation was strange and quite different from normal cultivation, since it did involve demons from outside this world.

"Skulls for the Skull Throne?" I asked while holding up the chopped off head of their Great Sage. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The demonic cultivators stopped to stare at me, the Sages quite confused while the Great ones seemed horrified.

"How to do you know the sacred incantation?" one of them asked as his eyes glowed blood-red. Sorry, Pef. Your paranoia is justified. Demons are demons, no matter which universe. I glanced away from the enspelled eyes, and knocked on the head in my hand. It sounded much like a ripe melon.

"To be or not to be. It's quite sad to see a Great Sage fallen so low. Can't you hear the Dao already? Giving yourself to alien invaders from another universe, who pretend to be demons? How stupid can you get?" I asked rhetorically, and split the head into half, looking for melon seeds.

"What are you doing, husband?" Luoli asked a bit weirded out.

"Looking for melon seeds? There's no way a Great Sage can be so stupid, right? Falling for childish tricks and turning into a pumpkin is not normal." I argued in a Sage voice.

"Great Elder, is that true? The demons are only an alien race, nothing more?" a smarter demonic Sage asked the nearest Great Sage, who blew his head off with an angry backhand.

"Keep them pinned. Reinforcements are coming!" the Great Sage ordered, but the damage was done. Several demonic Sages flew away, weakening their siege even more, and leaving gaps. Luoli pointed her hand at the murderer.

"See, he doesn't even argue the point. You were all tricked by children stories!" she spoke in a Dao voice, and made lightning fall on the Great Sage, which I followed with a Sword strike, taking off his right arm, since the stun lock was too short. The Great Sage looked for help at his colleagues, but you never take your eyes off the enemy in combat. Blue Rose clenched her hand, grabbing the maimed Great Sage with her Domain and dropping him at my feet, so I only had to slice once more.

Another skull for the skull throne. The sky began to turn red, and it was not sunset yet. Demonic blood was still blood, and sacrifice works no matter who is the victim. I glanced around, and noticed the blood has spilled on the Ancient Gate already. Oh! They were trying to use a teleporting formation as a summoning altar. Basically changing the coordinates from the local world to another world. Could this work? Normally no, but judging by the red sky, we might have triggered the Blood Wars a bit sooner.

"Luoli, the formation." I urged my new wife, and ran into combat, taking advantage of the demonic cultivators arguing about doctrine and demonic scripture, in the middle of a fight. Tian was almost a Sword God at his best, and while I wasn't him, I still had his skills and knowledge. I also trusted his instinct to attack a confused enemy. Slice, cut, slice and slice! My Tier 7 sword glowed with Sword Intent, chopping heads and limbs from the regular Sages with too much ease.

I didn't have a Sword Domain yet, but it almost felt like I did. Nine steps, and I was back beside Blue Rose, who smiled prettily at me.

"Nine kills in nine steps. You really are the best swordmaster I have ever seen." she praised me like it was something special. I already told her about Tian. But I guess seeing is believing. It's one thing to be told the truth, another thing to see it in action. And this was without years of training and conditioning to bring my sword skills to the peak. Mostly instincts and Dao insight from a dead flower in my soul. The remaining Great Sages noticed the red sky as well, and drew back.

"Childish stories you say? Watch the world drown in blood!" one of them yelled with a fervent voice. A clawed hand burst out of his chest, then the man split in two as a bloody demon used his body as a portal to enter our world.

"One of us drowned in blood, at least." I commented with a wry voice, as my lotus began to glow too, causing a blue aura to form around me and my women.

"Amusing. Blue Rose, you need more training." a cold voice emerged from above, as another Dao King appeared. I made sure not to look, since the cold fairies of Asgard were quite a bitch to manage. The remaining demonic Sages turned directly into ice, a good reminder why not to antagonize the Asgard Elders. Luoli sighed and held my free hand.

"I never wanted this. A Tier 8 Formation may seem impressive, but it still limits the users to the Dao King realm, for the rest of their lives. I'm so sorry." she said in a sad voice, talking about something else. I sighed aloud and squeezed her hand.

"That is not you, Luoli. A dead flower from the past, much like this poor incarnated demon. You nurture it for years in your heart, and then it just bursts and takes over." I argued in a wise voice, while Blue Rose and the Asgard Elders joined powers to contain the emergent demon. I could barely sense what they did, and more often extrapolated from known abilities to make sense. Domain convergence, bloodline suppression, elemental freezing... and many more.

I still needed a thousand years to reach this point, so I just stepped back and watched. At some point, Snowdrop appeared beside me and grabbed me and Luoli with her Snow domain, and we flew off, leaving the battlefield behind. A manifested demon was indeed strong, perhaps three times stronger than a Dao King. There was no point for us being there anymore.

"A single Sage level in 7 years? Did you slack off, Pef Tian?" Snowdrop asked as we flew towards the Million Flowers. It was still at least 100 times faster than other cultivators, but yes... it did look like slacking off compared to my previous records.

"I didn't have any women to fuck inside that Secret Realm. My mistake." I allowed with a smirk.

"And this new wife of yours? How do you keep finding Sacred Bodies whereever you roam?" Snowdrop asked as a huge pulse of blood qi illuminated the horizon behind us. I didn't look back, and just shrugged.

"Rose is bringing four more. I am just that lucky, I guess." I said with a smile. Snowdrop looked at me strangely.

"If you go out and bring five Sacred Bodies every time, nobody will be able to comment. And I was so proud and wanted to surprise you with our newest pink-haired Flower."

"I need to train inside the sect for a while. We got ambushed by eight Great Sages now, and I only managed to kill three of them." I complained like a true Sword idiot.

"And 37 Sages too." Luoli added with a wry tone.

"Sages are easy." I muttered in a humble voice. Snowdrop blinked and measured me for a second.

"Our sect doesn't even have 37 Sages. Even with you two, it's only 35." she pointed out a bit impressed.

"Your sect sucks. And I don't mean dick. Unless you want some milk?" I said with a wry tone. Snowdrop stopped and drilled a cave into a nearby mountain with a single spell.

"I do want some milk, if available. I missed the taste in the last 7 years." And so, my return home began with a a pretty white-haired fairy sucking my dick in a cave. Then I fucked Luoli hard, and drank from the snow spring, as it melted in my mouth. It felt like coming home.